BARLEY, in botany. See HORDEUM; and AGRICULTURE, no 118.
The principal use of barley among us is for making beer; in order to which, it is first malted. See the article BEER.
The Spaniards, among whom malt-liquors are little known, feed their horses with barley, as we do with oats. In Scotland, barley is a common ingredient in broths; and the consumpt of it for that purpose is very considerable, barley-broth being a dish as frequent there, as that of soup in France.
Barley has likewise its use in medicine, on account of its cooling and absterfive qualities: hence, a decoction of barley, especially if a little nitre be dissolved in it, is greatly recommended in slow fevers.